Special Cabinet Meeting Is Taking Place To Sign Off On Adding New Countries To The Mandatory Hotel Quarantine List

Passengers arriving from 58 states currently have to spend two weeks in a designated hotel at their own cost

But the government is considering adding EU countries like Germany, Italy and France to the list, on foot of medical advice.

Transport Minister Eamon Ryan says countries will come on and off the list on an ongoing basis:

"There are some countries which were on our original list if you look at Israel as an example, where already the numbers have significantly dropped even in the last couple of weeks. This for us keeps changing and we have to be adaptable too. Countries that are on the list may be taken off the list, if the numbers come down we have to have an eye to the particular variant, we have to have an eye on what's happening on our own border. We have an open border with Northern Ireland so we can't seal the country off"